Awkward...
A Twisting Tail Chapter 7 Awkward... Annabeth was debating weather to knock or ring the bell when Thalia opened the door.Her short hair was combed and she wore silver earrings with a matching necklace.She was dressed in a purple tank top and blue jeans. “Out of my way."She muttered,pushing past Annabeth and getting in her red Mustang.“Jason's upstairs." “Thanks,"Annabeth said sarcastically as she drove off.Since the door was open anyway,she walked inside. Jason must have heard the door close,since he came down the stairs.“Hey,"he said.He was totally disinterested.Annabeth knew she was only here because he needed her,he still despised her. The house was a large home on the canal.The outside was white and it was at least three stories tall.The floors were dark hardwood. “Your sister always that rude?"Annabeth asked in irritation. Jason laughed.“She's meeting Luke later." Annabeth rolled her eyes and followed Jason upstairs.Aside from the open living space downstairs,there was a large tv area upstairs with a tan couch and at least three different video game systems hooked up to the tv.A guitar leaned against the couch. Annabeth threw down her backpack and pulled out her mathbook.“I thought I was here to help you study?"Annabeth said angrily as Jason sat on the couch and picked up the guitar. He ignored her. Skillfully his fingers passed over the strings.Annabeth watched,mesmerized,as he expertly played one of Annabeth's favorite songs,a difficult peice by Mozart written for harpsicord,on his guitar with no sheet music.And,she noticed,he played it in a higher key without any mistakes. Spellbound,Annabeth took a seat on the couch next to him.She totally forgot about the mathbook in her hands.When he finished,she said,“How'd you learn to play like that?" “Practice,"he said with a goofy grin on his face. Annabeth pulled her hair out of her face and opened the math book.But no matter how much she read about fractions and decimals,the song ran through her head. Annabeth glanced at her phone and realized she was ten minutes late for the agreed meeting at the Beachside with Piper and Hazel.Quickly she grabbed up her stuff and her bag and stood. “I got to go."She said,turning to leave. Jason asked,“See you tomorrow?" “Yeah..." On her way out,she received a message from Piper. Piper: Where are you?Earth to Annabeth,you there? Annabeth hesitated for a moment,then replied. Annabeth: I'm at a friend's house.Coming. “Finally!"Hazel exclaimed,“Where were you?" “At a friend's house."Annabeth said. Piper gave her a weird smile.“Any chance this friend's a guy?" Annabeth laughed.“Yeah,so?I was helping him with homework.No big deal." Hazel rolled her eyes and began recounting their exploration of Olym Island.They had found a huge coral reef on the other side of the island,and a huge bay.There was a valley filled with flowers and a certain height up the mountain,the fog broke so they could see clearly. “And,"Piper added,“A secret entrance from the ocean to the Silver Cavern." Annabeth's jaw dropped.“No way,"she said. Hazel nodded.“You are coming so you can see it tomorrow,right?" Annabeth shook her head.She really wanted to go,but she knew it wasn't possible.She had already confirmed to Jason she would be there,and she couldn't explain why,but she didn't want to let him down.“Sorry,busy." Piper giggled.“More homeowork?" Annabeth nodded. “Fine,"Piper said,rolling her eyes.“Enjoy that while we have a good time with our powers." Annabeth stopped.She had forgotten to tell them about what she had discovered in the hallway.“Outside,with me."she said,“''Now''." Piper sipped her kiwi smoothie.She looked set on staying there.“Why?" Annabeth sighed in exasperation.At least Hazel was on her side.Hazel stood up and,with a longing glance at her hamburger,waitedbeside Annabeth for Piper to get up. “It's important,"Annabeth told her.Piper rolled her eyes.She followed hhem outside,but Annabeth could hear her muttering about her food. People milled around on the docks,and Annabeth groaned.If “disapeared" in front of all these people,they would know that something was up. “Never mind,"she muttered,“I'll show you another time." Piper sighed.She whispered something about “Evil,barbarian friends,"and went back into the Cafe. Annabeth sighed and walked into the Cafe after her,with Hazel on her heels.She sat down again,deep in thought.Piper kept shooting her evil glances.Hazel was playing with her hair. The little bell above the door rang.A couple of people started laughing.Annabeth heard some remarks,things like find your sea monster yet? Where's ya leprachaun? Jason Grace,the great sea monster hunter. Annabeth swallowed hard.She turned around,and sure enough,there was Jason in the doorway.His face was full of anger. “It is real,"he insisted. Frank gave a snort from behind the counter.“Sure,Jason,and I give away free food." A couple kids laughed at that,and one who was confused asked,“Can I have a free soda?" Jason glared at the people who laughed at him,and found a booth on the opposite side of the room from Annabeth to sit.He picked up his menu,but didn't focus on it. “We've got trouble,"Hazel whispered. Piper sighed.“He isn't gonna let this go." Annabeth looked at the others.She wasn't exactly glad to be a fish girl,but having the power and not using it would be torture.Still,the secret couldn't get out.“Lockdown."She whispered.“No swimming unless otherwise nessacary." Piper nodded.Annabeth looked at Hazel.She hesitated,but gave a nod. Jason gasped for air as he surfaced.He climbed into the boat where Percy was waiting.“Ready?"Percy asked.Jason nodded. Spray showered over them,glinting in the sunlight.Jason watched the screen hooked to the waterproof camera,which he had just fastened to the bottom of the boat.Every so often,he glanced at the sonar. “Stop the boat!"he yelled suddenly.Jason didn't lift his eyes from the screen as Percy stopped the boat,letting them float over the waves. Percy looked over to see what Jason had seen.“What?" There was no mistake,there was a thick orange tail sliding between the coral.It couldn't be a dolphin,there were scales.Dolphins did not have scales.And the fluke was flatter. Annabeth silently groaned.Piper just had to leave her phone at the Silver Cavern while they had all agreed not to swim.Besides,it was Piper's phone and she wasn't supposed to be swimming anyway,so why did Annabeth have to get it? Rocketting past,she occasionally cast glances upward to make sure there weren't any boats.Especially Jason's. Slipping into a huge reef,Annabeth relaxed a bit.It was unlikely she would be seen in here,hiding behind rocks,blending in with the colors. Then she turned around. Jason pulled the goggles over his eyes.The scuba gear firmly on his back,he dove into the water.Whatever this “sea monster" was,he wanted to see it first-hand. “You're so stupid,"Percy muttered.Jason ignored him. The water wasn't too deep,maybe 5 yards.Diving to the bottom wasn't the problem.It was trying to find the creature in the coral.knolls jutted out,different kinds of fish swam back and forth. That was when he caught a glimpse of the tail.Jason swam forward to get a better look. He could see a cloud of blond hair,and a plaid flannel shirt.Then it turned. Jason's eyes widened as he realized he was looking into the face of Annabeth Chase. Annabeth's jaw dropped.She was about to dart off when Jason grabbed her by the arm.He was not letting her get away without telling him the truth. Annabeth looked up and saw the boat.Jason could tell she had seen the camera by the look of horror that spread on her face.He immediately released her arm and swam up towards the boat.And he ripped the camera off. Annabeth swam away from the boat,and Jason followed.When she surfaced,the boat was just on the horizon.Percy wouldn't be able to see them there. Neither one of them said a word for a minute.Annabeth broke the silence.“You didn't record me,did you?With that camera?" Jason shook his head.“I don't think so." “Good." “You're a fish."It was more a statement than a question.Annabeth nodded.Her blond hair stuck to her shoulders.Jason noticed for the first time how grey her eyes were.She nodded. He looked towards the boat.Percy would be waiting.Jason sighed.“I have to go." He was about to swim away when Annabeth stopped him.“Wait,promise me you won't tell anyone." “Okay."A new thought came to his mind.“What about Piper and....Hazel?Are they...?" Annabeth quickly shook her head.“No...no,just me." “Do they know?" “No." Immediately Annabeth dove underwater.Then she was gone. Hazel groaned.“Annabeth!" Annabeth sighed and flopped onto the bed.Piper stood by her window.“You told him?" “Not everything."She thought for a moment.“He doesn't know about you guys.He thinks I'm the only one." Hazel rolled her eyes.“How long will that last?" “By the time he figures it out,we will have fixed this mess,"Piper said,“Hopefully." Annabeth sighed again and sat up.“Oh!I forgot to show you something."When she saw that Piper and Hazel were watching,she slowly clenched her fist.She cleared her head. Piper's jaw dropped.“You can turn invisible,but you still told Jason you were a mermaid?"Annabeth unclenched her fist and grinned sheepily. Annabeth sighed.She dreaded this,but didn't matter.She knocked on the door.Thalia answered again.This time she was simply wearing a black tee shirt and some jeans.“Hey,Jason's upstairs."She let Annabeth in and then walked away.Annabeth heard stairs and assumed she was going to a basement. Annabeth walked up the stairs as slowly as possible.After meeting him on the reef,she didn't want to see him ever again.But she didn't want to cancel,either. Jason was once more playing his guitar.But this time,it wasn't Mozart.It was a tune Annabeth didn't recognize.Every so often he would play a note,then pause and replay a couple of notes to see what sounded best.She gasped.Jason Grace had taught himself to play guitar.Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he acted... He stopped when he saw Annabeth.“Hey." “Hey." Annabeth knew he was thinking about her.And her tail. Jason set the guitar down,leaning it against the couch.Annabeth took a seat and pulled out her mathbook.Before she began,though,Jason said nervously,“I told you I didn't have any footage of you...I was...um....wrong." The mathbook fell to the floor. Jason pulled out his phone and showed her the screen.Endless coral...There was her tail... as the video stuttered and turned to static when Jason broke the camera,in the bottom corner...there she was. Her heart began to beat faster.“Has anyone but you seen this?" “Percy,but I don't think he noticed you."Then Jason's eyes widened.“But he has a copy of the video." Annabeth groaned.“Great.Absoloutely wonderful..." “I'll get it from him later."Jason promised.“I guess we should do some math..." “There is no way I could focus on math right now." Jason laughed at that.His blue eyes glowed.With a shrug,he picked his guitar up and began to play. She still didn't recognize the song,but she was beginning to like it.It had a slow but calming melody,and every so often it would speed up,making her wonder how someone's fingers could move so fast. He looked up.“Pretty good,huh?" “Yeah.Pretty good.What song is it?" “Haven't named it yet." Annabeth's grey eyes widened.He had written a song,all by himself.There was more to Jason than met the eye.As he began the chorus again,she began to hum along. Then he stopped playing,and just watched her a moment.They just sat there in silence,until her phone beeped. Hazel: Where are you? Annabeth: At a friend's house. Hazel: Repeat,where are you? Annabeth: Don't worry,I'm coming later.Meet @ my house,you and Piper. “I need to leave."Annabeth was about to stand up when Jason stopped her. “Meet me at the beach tomorrow." “Okay." “Be there." “I will." End of Chapter 7 Category:Gigglesplash The Ranger's Apprentice Category:A Twisting Tail Category:A Twisting Tail Chapters Category:Chapter Page